1.1 Introduction
Western education is paradoxically a progenitor of the contemporary global moment and a foil to the continuation of the world that it helped create. The litany of troubles that can be laid at the doorstep of Western education, in part, include the environmental catastrophe in all its manifestations, the growing anomic sense of alienation that besets Western societies and related displacement of people from their polities, or the absence of any legal citizenship that besets millions, to name just a few. Each of these conditions are drawn from the same root trouble, that being the deep alienation that is found within the contents and processes of Western education, that disciplines thinking into narrow and disconnected slices of being, which leads to a form of educated myopia, a system that begs for an overhaul.
As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.
1.2 Background of Study
Western education began to creep into African socio-cultural milieu, first, with the contact of Europeans with Africa, a consequence of Berlin conference in the quest for imperial pilfering of African resources and, later, consolidated by the unstoppable wave of globalization. It is important to stress that colonialism distorted and retarded the pace and tempo of cultural growth and trend of civilization in Africa. One of the most profound consequences of colonization has been how the political and economic rape of the colonies has also led to what sometimes seem to be an unbridgeable cultural gap between the nations that were the beneficiaries of colonization and those that were the victims of the colonial assault.
The era of colonial pillage and plunder led to the relative stagnation and often precipitous decline of traditional cultural pursuits in the colonies. With Africa subjugated and dominated, the Western culture and European mode of civilisation began to thrive and outgrow African cultural heritage. Traditional African cultural practices paved the way for foreign way of doing things as Africans became fully ‘westernised’. Western culture now is regarded as front line civilisation. African ways of doing things became primitive, archaic and regrettably unacceptable in public domain. Not only were certain aspects of the material culture in the colonies lost or destroyed, colonial societies also lost the power and sense of cultural continuity, such that it became practically impossible to recover the ability to strive for cultural progress on their own terms.
The social fabric was completely devastated and a new culture of violence was implanted. Traditional African systems of conflict resolution were destroyed and, in their places, nothing was given. The democratic process, rudimentary though it was, but with great potential as accompanies every human institution, was brutally uprooted and replaced by the authoritarianism of colonialism. A new crop of elites was created, nurtured, and weaned on the altar of violence and colonialism armed with the structures of the modern state to continue to carry out the art and act of subjugation of the mass of the people in the service of colonialism (Mimiko, 2010:641-42).
British regional government further compounded the persistence of separateness. Although united under a governor, colonial administration from 1906 to 1922 divided Nigeria into the Colony and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria, which included Lagos, and the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria. That administration was further fragmented into the Northern, Eastern, and Western Regions maintained from 1922 to 1957, with the Federal Territory of Lagos created in 1954. These regions became essentially self-governing in 1960 at the time of Nigeria's independence as a tenuous federation. The colonial structure maintained ethnic isolation and reinforced it with regionalism
a situation inherited by the independent nation. With the larger ethnic groups dominating the separate political regions, the colonial experience provided little basis for fusing ethnic groups in any common sense of nationalism. It certainly fostered no history or tradition of national community. The education was therefore, found to be ineffective and inadequate to the needs and aspirations of Nigeria society.
Therefore, in Nigeria where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Economic Impact of Western Education in Society.
1.3 Statement of Problems
Investigation revealed that that education is a cultural evolution somewhere in Africa lost it in the stages of the evolution of Western Education. The trend of cultural westernization of Africa has become very pervasive and prevalent, such that Western civilization has taken precedence over African values and culture and the latter is regarded as inferior to the former. As with other societies and cultures in the so-called Third World, the impact of Western education on Africa has occasioned a discontinuity in forms of life throughout the continent. This has led to a cultural dualism that often presents itself as a real dilemma in concrete, real-life situations. In other words, the African experience of modernity is fraught with tensions at every level of the communal and social settings. The post- independence Africa is confronted with how to have a true identity, a new culture that is African in nature. However, it will be unfair if we will to mention that western education also came with it some very impactful sides. This is why the researcher intends to have a critical assessment on the perceived economic impact of western education on the African continent, using Nigeria as a case study.
1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study
The aim of the study is to examine the Economic Impact of Western Education in Society. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:
- To identify the impact of western education on the infrastructural development Nigeria.
- To examine the impact of western education on the culture and tradition of the society.
- To access the impact of western education on the morality of the youth.
- To examine the impact of western education on the African religious belief and practice.
- To examine the impact of western education on the development and training of manpower in industries and firms.
1.5 Research Questions
The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:
- Does western education have significant impact on the development and training of manpower in industries and firms?
- Does western education have impact on the African religious belief and practice?
- What is the impact of western education on the culture and tradition of the society?
- What is the impact of western education on the morality of the youth?
- What is the impact of western education on the infrastructural development Nigeria?
1.6 Research Hypothesis
In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.
Hypotheses One
- H0: Western education has a negative impact on the culture and tradition of the African society.
- H1: Western education has a positive impact on the culture and tradition of the African society.
Hypotheses Two
- H0: There is no relationship between western education and infrastructural development.
- H1: There is a relationship between western education and infrastructural development.
1.7 Significance of Study
The relevance of the study is stated as follows:
- The study would benefit religious leaders since it would serve as a guide on how to provide education on character and moral training and the development of sound attitudes towards desired ends, such as societal values, respect, honesty, justices and truthfulness.
- The study would suggest to policy makers the need to introduce more necessary methods to teach in primary schools.
- This would enable the policy makers to achieve the national educational goals as spelt out in the National policy on education which emphasizes on giving the child opportunities for developing manipulative skills that would enable him to function effectively in society within the limit of his capacity. Such skills bring out the ability of the child in certain trades and vocation that he would earn his living from.
- The study would be significant to student for the development of self-reliance. It will also be useful as a research material to other researchers who intend to embark on similar or the same topic.
1.8 Scope of Study
The scope of the research is focused on the Economic Impact of Western Education in Society using Warri-South Local Government Area of Delta State as a case study.
1.9 Limitations of the Study
During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:
- Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
- Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
- Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
- Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
1.10 Definition of Terms
Western Education: Western education is a system originated from the west and penetrated to the world after Islamic education in the earliest 15th century. Its main approach was the modernization of social life through science and technological advancement (Farid, 2005).
Society: A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same geographical or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations.
1.11 Organization of the Study
This research work is organized in five chapters, for easy understanding, as follows:
Chapter one is concerned with the introduction, which consist of the (overview, of the study), historical background, statement of problem, objectives of the study, research hypotheses, significance of the study, scope and limitation of the study, definition of terms and historical background of the study.
Chapter two highlights theoretical framework on which the study is based, thus the review of related literature.
Chapter three deals on the research design and methodology adopted in the study.
Chapter four concentrate on the data collection and analysis and presentation of finding.
Chapter five gives summary, conclusion, and recommendations made of the study
